The European Commission is piling on pressure for ACTA (Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement), and is quietly preparing a legal proposal for the EU to sign it. The news comes in the context of ongoing discussion in the European Parliament on the question of whether to obtain a legal opinion on ACTA's compatibility with the Treaties.

In its recent Communication on IPR Enforcement, the Commission suggests it is a fait accompli that the EU will sign ACTA in 2011. Indeed that all of the countries involved in the negotiation will sign.

However, the European Parliament, which has been much more skeptical of ACTA from the beginning, is apparently still skeptical, and would like to take the shocking step of actually making sure that ACTA doesn't go against existing EU laws. The EC has simply declared that it is, and would rather that the Parliament not actually confirm this. Hopefully, the Parliament doesn't cave in to EC pressure, and actually takes the time to make sure that anything it signs is appropriate.